Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) announced on March 10 that he had received the head sign of the regulator of the securities of Spain, the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), to offer Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (Ethn) Trading services to its customers.
The two largest crypto offers from the bank in Spain will allow users to buy, sell and manage digital assets via its mobile application. The lender said He will use his own cryptographic police custody platform to maintain total control over customer titles without third involvement.
Initially, deployment will be limited to a selected group of users before gradually developing to all private clients of the Iberian nation in the coming months.
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The BBVA crypto journey has started in Switzerland
BBVA’s foray into The crypto started in Switzerlandwhere he launched police custody and trading for private banking customers in June 2021. The Swiss branch has since expanded his offers to include Ether and the USDC (USDC) Stablecoin.
In January 2025, the BBVA Turkish subsidiary guaranteed BBVA Kripto launched its Crypto trading services to the public. Spain now entering the fold, BBVA is expanding its cryptography services in accordance with evolving European regulations.
Tradfi and crypto companies rush for a mica license
BBVA’s expansion occurs while Crypto-active (Mica) regulation markets have reached complete implementation At the end of 2024. Although the framework is now in force, EU cryptographic companies have until July 2026 to fully comply with its requirements under a transitional phase of 18 months.
The grandfather’s period, or transition phase, so that cryptographic companies became compliant with Mica lasts until July 2026. Source: ESMA
Since the deployment of Mica, traditional financing companies have accelerated their efforts to secure Mica licenses and integrate cryptography services. Hidden Road brokerage bonus got His mica license in the Netherlands on December 30, 2024. Chartered Standard followed on January 9Receiving approval in Luxembourg, while the digital guard of Boerse Stuttgart has become First cryptocurrency service provider in Germany January 17.
Crypto-native companies are also adapted to the new regulatory landscape. In January 2025, Major exchanges OKX, Crypto.com And Hashkey All approval of secure mica. Bitumen, who suffered The greatest hacking in the history of cryptographywas recently deleted from the black list of France And expressed his intention to obtain a Mica license then.
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